Wreck-It Ralph: The Video Game

It’s a video game based on a movie about a video game. Wow, how meta can you get?

Activision and Disney Interactive are teaming up to produce Wreck-It Ralph: The Video Game, which will be released around the same time as Disney’s upcoming animated film of the same name. Nothing surprising about that. It’s very common for family-friendly movies to get video game tie-ins. What’s surprising about this one is that it’s only being made for Nintendo’s game consoles.

Only if you own a Nintendo DS, 3DS, or Wii will you get to enjoy this “classic, arcade-style sidescroller.” With the game not arriving until November alongside the movie, I’m forced to wonder why it’s not being made for Wii U instead. Not to mention other game platforms like Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Mac, iOS, Android, etc.

Disney and Activision ain’t saying. And they’re saying precious little about the game, too. The movie, created by The Simpsons‘ Rich Moore, is about a video game villain named Ralph, who’s tired of being the bad guy and decides to prove himself a hero by crossing over into other video games at the arcade. Things go awry when he accidentally sets loose a deadly enemy, who infiltrates the game world as well. The movie’s trailer got gamers buzzing for its inclusion of classic video game villains such as a ghost from Pac-Man and Bowser from the Mario franchise.

Instead of retelling the events from the film, the game takes place after the movie. In the game, Ralph teams up with his own game’s hero, Fix-It Felix, to save all of their video game friends from a “Cy-Bug” invasion. New levels in the Wreck-It Ralph game (the one depicted in the movie) are playable in the video game (the one you can buy and play yourself). These include levels called “Sugar Rush,” “Hero’s Duty,” and “Fix-It Felix, Jr.”

You’ll be able to switch between the two main characters to focus on their distinct skills. Ralph offers brute strength, while Felix can repair things, such as damage caused by the Cy-Bugs. Collectable “Hero Medals” will be found throughout the levels. There’s a full story campaign, as well as two-player co-op in the Wii game.

Wreck-It Ralph the movie stars the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and and the comedy go-to gal of the moment, Jane Lynch. No word yet on whether these stars might lend their voices to the game.

More importantly, will Disney and Activision release versions of the game for other platforms? They’d be crazy not to.

About Robin Parrish

Unathletic, uncoordinated tall man with endless creativity stampeding through his overactive brain. Comes with beard, wife, and two miniature humans. Novelist. General blogger and main Gaming Geek for ForeverGeek. Lead Blogger, Apple Gazette.